My time at the Independent and Clark College is coming to an end for all intensive purposes. Whether I had an impact while I was here is hard to say, but what I know for sure is that my experience has entrenched itself in my being, and it will likely remain there for some time to come.
 
I feel like I have plenty of growing up left to do, and I will leave the Independent with some of my personal goals unattained. Near the beginning of the fall quarter, I wrote in this column that I heard this readerships desire to see less grammatical errors in the paper. I feel pretty good about our ability to respond to this concern. The issues that are now coming out contain far fewer grammatical mistakes than in the past, and the over all formula for putting out the paper has gotten to a point where we can start to really focus on other problem areas.
 
For various reasons, I have been unable to organize a forum for this quarter. This is unfortunate because I think that opportunities for The Independent to connect with the community should be a paramount objective.
 
You may begin to notice that advertisements are being placed within the display area of some our drop-boxes around campus. Although I don’t especially like the idea of having glaring advertisements intrude our campus, I do appreciate any move towards a truly independent newspaper for the campus. Since we are primarily funded through the ASCC, one of the most realistic ways to become independent is through advertisement. Our Business Manager, Gina McIlvenny, has done a terrific job this year securing advertising funds.
 
Another exciting development is the fact that Ozzie and Oswald, along with its cartoonist Nathan Childs, have been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). The regional chapter of SPJ has awarded Childs with the honor of being awarded one of the best three best editorial cartoons. He will attend a dinner in which the specific ranking of awards will be revealed. The number one cartoon from this region will be put up against the other regions in a national contest.
 
As I use up the last words I have in this space, I would like to thank everybody that I have worked with on and through the Independent and would like to say it was an honor to be afforded the liberty to explore the many roles that I took on here.